The United States and the United Kingdom were uneasy allies with the Soviet Union in the conduct of the Second World War. The totalitarian Soviet government which followed a foreign policy of assuring that only friendly or neutral states were on its borders appeared to be a geopolitical nightmare to the Western democracies because each time the Soviet Union was successful in converting a bordering state to communist control, the policy then was to seek a friendly or neutral state on the outer borders of the newly converted communist state. This policy posed a direct threat to the security of Western Europe, as well as to Japan and Korea. The posed an indirect threat to the United States, as it counted on Western Europe and friendly states in East Asia to contain the expansionist policies of the Soviet Union. Thus, following the conclusion of the Second World War, the distrust and animosities between the Soviet Union and the Western democracies, especially the United States surfaced and a confrontation of global scope ensued (Bandow 164; Kissinger 118).
The Cold War was initiated by the United States primarily as a manifestation of a paranoid fear of Soviet intentions specifically and communism generally. Pursuit of the Cold War by the United States was predicated on bottling-up the Soviet Union within that countryÆs own borders. Accomplishment of this objective required that the United States develop reliable alliances with countries with common borders with the Soviet Union who could be depended upon to accept American military and economic assistance to support American containment objectives. The policy of containment was a major element of American foreign policy in the Cold War era and it was applied in all global regions (Bandow 158; Kissinger 115).
The distrust of the Soviets by the leaders of the Western democracies increased following the conclusion of the Yalta Conference (Crimea Conference) in 1945. At that co...